View source for Aberrations: What are they? How did they happen? When did they come about?

<i>A excerpt of text from the research tome: <u>Aberrations: What are they? How did they happen? When did they come about? (And can we please stop it?)</u>:</i>

"Aberrations are...aberrations. they *shouldn't* **be**, and, yet, as many people are perfectly aware: they are. Their innards are nonsense. Some are undifferentiated goop contained within the thin layer of skin that holds them together. Some are full of, what appear to be, functioning organs, but the organs and bones float around inside the beasts with little concern for their actual intended function.

As a result, little research has been successfully completed on the aberrations of our world besides the "how to kill" research that can be conducted with sword or sorcery.

Where they come from:
Are they natural? Are they simply the form of a natural beast having been exposed to corrupting magicks for millennia? *Footnote: suggestions of extraterrestrial origins are not being fielded in this tome. Please refer to my text __Lunatic Fringe Theories: How to suggest outlandish ideas without looking unhinged__*

How they reproduce:
Many have been seen dividing asexually, and others have been seen to rebirth themselves from their own corpse if not killed "properly." (Dependant of course on the specific creature)

Their creation:
*When* did they appear on Earth? Did they develop deep underground long before they ever found their way to the surface of our world? *Footnote: cephalopods?*

Their *intent* (beyond simple survival)?

These are all nothing but questions without any answers. The creatures do not have interest in communication with intelligent beings beyond the implanted hallucinations they place in your mind, but even those prey on our animalistic fears rather than higher-level reasoning."